


inspirational muse

by madnessandscars



Series: we're still the same after seven years. [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode Related, F/M, Mild Smut, Season/Series 05, kinda OOC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29697927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madnessandscars/pseuds/madnessandscars
Summary: his first meeting with chad gekko doesn't exactly go as heʼd thought.
Relationships: Jughead Jones/Veronica Lodge
Series: we're still the same after seven years. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190417
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44





	inspirational muse

He never realized how hard being a teacher was until now. His case is even worse, he doesn't have that much patience and being a homeless alcoholic doesn't really help. Betty is lucky, because she's got his freinds to help her whenever they can and so is Archie. The thing is, he doesn't really have a friend right now — well, technically he has Tabitha, but she's not a teacher and she won't understand.

Then the image of Veronica, with those dark eyes and raven hair, comes in his mind and he wants to ask her how is she so fucking good at doing everything perfectly only being by herself. She's a business woman and, from what he's heard, she's been conducing jewerly business in New York, still alone.

He chuckles and thinks he might need to have a talk or two with her. The are not friends, of course not, but he's sure as hell that she's rocking it in her class.

He finds her in the student lounge, and she's not alone. Of course Archie, Betty, Kevin and Toni are also there, smiling and giggling and eating some exquisite-looking cupcakes, but there's a man, tall and about the same age as himself, that has got his arm wrapped around her and she's looking at him lovingly.

“Hey, sorry I'm late,” he says, announcing his presence and Veronica turns her head with that little crimson smile on her face.

“There he is,” she smirks. “Chad, this is Jughead Jones. Jughead, this is Chadwick Gekko, my husband.”

He's about to burst out in laughs, he really is. Veronica Lodge, or Veronica Gekko, has married someone named _Chad_? He's always known she's had some kind of douchebag kink or something like that but being married to one of them? That doesn't quite make sense to him. She still has some dignity, after all.

He luckly manages to keep a straight face — the alcohol hasn't probably kicked in yet — and nods, reaching out to shake Chad's hand. “Uh, nice to meet you.”

He nods. “Jughead, right? You're that beloved writer my wife wanted to go to see, aren't you? She was re-reading your book just a couple of weeks ago. I guess it's a very good one, isn't it, honey?”

He can see the red on Veronica's cheeks and he's pretty sure he's blushing, too. It's like his High School years have been only made up of lies because hell, she's read his book twice. He's never thought they were friends, in fact, they weren't, but the feeling in his belly at the thought of her reading his book before going to sleep tells him that he more than likes the idea of being close to her.

“Yeah, it is.” she's smiling at him, just like she did in High School, when he'd comforted her after her fight with her dad, and he finds himself grinning back. “The Homecoming Queen is such a badass, though.”

“Mh-mh. I guess I'd found my inspirational muse.” he says and — oh God, did he just flirt with her, in front to her husband? If he was embarrassed before, he now wants to literally bury himself on the spot. His gaze slowly travels up to meet Chad's and he seems — he seems Hiram Lodge. Cold, unreadable, dangerous Hiram Lodge.

If it wasn't for Veronica's presence, he would have been punched repeatedly in the face. He can see how Chad's eyes twich and he'd be lying if he said he isn't scared.

“Well, what can I say? I'm pretty much everyone's muse.” he hears her whisper and he doesn't know if she's flirting back or just trying to save him from being murdered by her husband — or maybe both — but in any case, it's totally working. “Want a cupcake? These are Magnolia's. I remember how much you loved them.” 

He reaches out for a cupcake and chuckles, beyond grateful for the change of topic. “And I still do, don't worry. Back in New York they were almost the only food I had for breakfast.” 

“You were in New York, too? Oh God, how come I've never seen you around?”

“You know, the city's big. I didn't go out that much though, only at night.” he shrugs. “Besides, not everyone can afford living on Wall Street and having their own jewelry business, Lodge.”

“It's Gekko, you idiot.” she corrects him playfully but he knows it's for not having to fight with her husband later tonight, after a tiring day of work. “And hey, you could've at least called me. We're friends, aren't we?”

No, they're not. They're the farthest thing to a friend in so many ways. In high school, back in the old days, they only talked if someone was dying — like Fred Andrews, after being shot — and they didn't even want to be around each other. But still, in high school, they couldn't be around each other for obvious reasons: the way he looked at her, the way she kept holding onto him, the way the had their arguments so smoothly.

He was with Betty at that time, but he can't say he didn't have a teeny, tiny crush on Veronica that probably wasn't so tiny. He'd never admit it but yes, he'd been completely head over heels for her in junior year. And that's why they weren't friends, because she knew how he felt and he knew how she felt. And now, after seven years, maybe they still know something about those feelings.

He smiles, because he realizes there's a double meaning in what she'd said. “Yes, we are friends.”

.

.

.

(That night she sings Shallow with Chad at the Whyte Wyrm but he knows that she's looking right at him. He wants to cheer for her, because she's so fucking good at singing but he just can't, because it's her husband that she's singing for, and with. Still, he congratulates her, after the performance. She smiles and it's the damn sparkle in her eyes that tells him that he's misunderstood everything.

That night she calls him after a fight with Chad. She's crying, he can feel it, but he doesn't question anything. Instead, he tells her about the Mothman mystery and that's enough to make her laugh. She tells him that she missed how he'd find something suspicious in everything and that feeling of nostalgia is back again in his stomach. He tells her that she can help whenever she wants.

Two days after that call, she tells him she's divorcing from Chad. He holds her and lets her cry on his shoulder.)

.

.

.

He decides to abandon his story about the Mothman, it's not so inspiring anyway. Instead, he starts to write about raven hair spread on his pillow and so kissable lips against his. He writes about gentle hands sliding down his torso and rough hands taking off her clothes.

“Mh,” she whispers against his ear one day, before work. “How's your novel going?”

“Good, actually.” his lips leave her neck for one second, hands still on her collarbone. “I guess I've found my inspirational muse.”

She moans and grips his flannel tighter and suddenly, they are teenagers again.

They arrive in school a hour late.


End file.
